OK exams are done for me and i finally have time to paly with my sp 404...
i already know how to import samples and different drums and such...i cleared out all the presets.. The only thing killing me is i CANT MAKE A PATTERN FOR SH-- .... eveytime i do things are off beat... ill set the length to 4 or 8 and cant match it up... understand i just started to really mess around with it...im not a quiter so ima play around untill it kills me but can anyone give me tips on making patterns..laying down something as simple as a drum pattern..plz...any help with Quantize/Length/BPM would help too..i read the manual but its just not helping..

Thanks..

drums:
kick - 16 quant
snare - 4 quant
hithats tambourinos etc - 8
and cut sample line to smallest partitions and try to play some smal parts when snare hits. peace

I'm a music "n00b" myself, but I've been thinking of some ideas that might help. One is to make a bunch of one bar loops, one for each element of your song (i.e. main rhythm, fills, bridge, etc.) and trigger them sequentially. I find it easier to do it this way rather than longer loops as I have trouble keeping up my rhythm ( ). On the 404, while one pattern is playing, you can cue up another.

EDIT: I cut out that last part about my sample. Didn't seem right.

very basic suggestion-

Kick - make 2 copies of your sample - pitch one lower and slightly softer. (call it kick2)

Snare - same as above

Set pattern length 4 bar

Kick1 - quantize on 4 - try just striking on 1 then 1 and 3 every 2nd bar.

Snare 1 - quantize on 4 - every 2 and 4 beat.

Kick 2 - either quantize on 16.3 or HI and play around
Snare 2 - same but you might want to keep it sparse on snare2 to begin with

do with hi hats whatever you want

If you fuck up then it's no big drama you only have to edit the Kick 2 or Snare 2 sample in the pattern rather than start all over again.

Once you are comfortable with this after a while you will start to feel it's also robotic - but better than you were before.

At that stage you will want to play around with adding length of silence at beginning of your Kick1 and Snare 1 samples and then editing the start points back and forth to emulate some swing.

The more practice you do you will ignore there is no pattern copy on 404. After awhile it gets to be no drama - if I can't do the same pattern twice from feel or sound I never deserved to get it the first time as it was only fluke.

that's some good advice bishojo. i try the quantize every so often but i don't usually like the result. i find that i will redo one pattern (usually two bars) twenty times or more. i save some and trash most after a while i get it where i want. for me, the metrenome is most helpful when i adjust the level depending how much i need it. you could record just your kicks and then turn it all the way down i.e. making your own metrenome.

I'd suggest that when you've got no one around to bother, you should just practice manually tapping out drum patterns the way you might sit around and beat on a school desk with your fist and knuckles. It's a pretty big advantage to be able to beat out drums live without sequence aid. And honestly, as musicians we should be forcing ourselves to play in precise rhythm. It's like learning to play guitar along with a metronome, it really sucks and is so boring, but you realize it's a vital skill once you possess it.

And I'm not suggesting that we should be playing like robots at all. It's just that keeping excellent rhythm at a variety of tempos takes a lot of practice, and we should be working on it the same way we'd practice with a real drum kit.

Thanks for all the help guys...im getting the quantize feature down..thanks again for the help...im tryin learn how to chop samples now...lol..im using adobe audition for that...its just tough putin my chops together..lol